Clearwater Forest makes national list …of worst timber sales for climate
Climate Forests, alongside the Center for Biological Diversity, have included Dead Laundry in an annual list of worst timber sales.
The list makes abundantly clear the agency’s effort to put logging profits above our planet’s atmosphere. Forests, especially older ones with large trees, are increasingly important as landscape-scale carbon reserves, offsetting some of the impacts of fossil fuel use.
Dead Laundry, in the heart of North Fork country, is surrounded on all sides by Inventoried Roadless Areas. This timber sale would clearcut, “near-cut”, and thin over 3,000 acres, as well as build or rebuild 200 miles of roads, damaging the center of a wildland complex the size of North Cascades National Park.
Friends of the Clearwater visited the area last summer, documenting the pre-project conditions. Beyond enormous trees, FOC found that much of the old roads planned for “maintenance” would actually require complete rebuilding. That would be a huge loss for imperiled bull trout, which require cold, clear streams, as well as the recovering grizzly bear, which benefit from the security of wildlands without roads. Below are some of the monstrous cedar trees in the project area.
Our ground-truthing probably paused the project last year. The USFS avoids boots-on-the-ground analysis at all costs, and weren’t prepared for the extent of work required to get the project running. The below photo shows the state of many of the old roads, having been likely decommissioned by road removal at natural gullies. I’ve drawn lines to show where the road was expected to be so you can see the volume of earth needed to fill in the gap. It’s about 20-30 feet down by 40-50 across. Multiply this by 50 or 100 gullies and you have the roadwork needed for part of the project area.
Nevertheless, the project isn’t dead, and the Nez-Clear awaits approval of their multiple 40+ acre clearcuts to continue. We sincerely hope that this national spotlight gives the USFS some courage to cancel the project, acknowledge the climate crises, and serve the biosphere rather than corporate profits.
Wine For Wilderness Auction Starts Tomorrow!
Bringing a bottle of wine to the in-laws house during the holidays is a good idea. Artisan wines from Paso Robles, California are even better.
There are 13 wines up for grabs (and a few other items!) available for anyone over 21 who comes to Moscow to pick them up (we can’t legally mail them!). We will be checking ID at point of sale, which will happen once the auction ends on November 29th.
Ugly Sweater Zoom Hang Out Friday!
For those of you who couldn’t attend our annual meeting on November 5th, come join us online this Friday at 6:30 pm Pacific. We’ll be talking over the events of the year, playing bingo, celebrating the work of great organizations and activists, and catching up.
If you want to join, just email paul@friendsoftheclearwater.org for the Zoom link!
Thanks everyone!